Tip scoop



J. C. M NEICE ET AL Feb. 19, 1957 TIP SCOOP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001:. 5, 1953 eice.

J. c. MONEICE ETAL Feb. 19, 1957 TIP SCOOP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 5, 1953 Carlie 44cm 6] E mwomsfzf Feb. 19, 1957 J, c. MCNElCE ET AL 2,781,928

TIPSCOOP Filed Oct. 5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 imvcuwomq Mame-4' CTYLQCYKELCE I CAIQXCumdQV @affEmJor TIP SCOOP James Curtis McNeice, Lillington, Leamington Spa, and

Alexander Patterson, Leamington 'Spa, England, assignors to Massey-Harris-Ferguson (Sales) Limited, a British company 1 Application October 5, 1953, Serial No. 384,193

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 9, 1952 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-140) The present invention relates to front end loaders for use on tractors or the like and, more particularly, to tip scoops of the type adapted to be carried by a lifting structure on a tractor and movable between a substantially horizontal loading and carrying position and a substantially vertical, unloading position.

The general aim of the invention is to provide a sim-' plified and rugged tip scoop operable between loading and unloading positions, and in which a single actuator for moving the scoop between such positions is operative to maintain it in loading position without resort to latch and latch-releasing mechanisms.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a tip scoop which is adjustable in loading position or angle of attack on material to be picked up. r

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken inconjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tip scoop embodying the pre'sent'invention and illustrated as applied on an exemplary lifting attachment carriedby a tractor;

and

nited States Patent O Figs. 2 and 3 are plan and side elevation views, re-

spectively, of the tip' scoop, togetherwith'a part of the lifting attachment. a Y While the invention has bfilf'jillllSlIIfltCd and is de. scribed in some detail with reference to :a; particular embodiment thereof, thereis no intention that it thus be limited tosuch detail.' on the contrary, it is intended here to cover all modifications, alternativeconstructions, and equivalents falling within .the spirit andsc'ope' of the inventionas defined by the appended" claims.

Referring now to the exemplary form of the invention'here shown, a tip scoop S has been illustrated as applied, in one advantageoustuse, on *a lifting attach mentL connected with'a tractor T (Fig. 1). .In order to make clear the illustrated environment of the invention, the tractor and lifting attachment will be briefly described. 1 1 1. p While the tractor T may be anyone of a wide variety, that here illustrated will be recognized by those skilled in the art as the familiar Ferguson tractor, which is preferably equipped with'an implement hitch and hydraulic system of the typemore fully described in Ferguson Patent'2,118,180. For powering rear traction wheels 10,

the tractor includes a forward engine section 11, work- Patent No. 2,701,072,;issued February 1;}1955), and V assigned to the assignees of the present invention. Briefly, the lifting attaching includes a pair of downwardly curved, forwardly extending tubular booms 15, 16, disposed on opposite sides of the tractor, and pivoted at their aft ends to an elevated fulcrum bridge 18 attached to the rear end of the tractor. The forward ends of the booms 15, 16 extend beyond the tractor and for connection with material handling devices carry apertured lugs 19 (Figs. 2 and 3). Preferably, the booms are interbraced at their forward ends by a welded cross brace 20 and a pair of diagonal straps 21 converging rearwardly from either boom for connection with the cross brace. by means of top and bottom welded plates 22. For rocking the booms 15, 16 about the pivot connections at their aft ends, a pair of hydraulic lifting rams 24, 25 are pivotally connected at their lower ends to a transverse cross member secured on the underside of the tractor, and at their upper ends to plates 26, 27 fastened beneath the mid portions of the respective booms. The lifting rams 24, 25 are connected into the hydraulic system of the tractor through a suitable control valve 28 having a hand lever 28a located adjacent to the drivers seat and adapted to selectively supply or bleed pressured fluid to or from the rams to raise and lower the forward ends of the booms 15, 16. Preferably, the control valve 28 is connected to operate in conjunction with an overload release and dump valve (not shown)v and a quadrant lever 29 as shown and described in the co pending U. S. application of Chambers and McNeice, Serial No. 377,585, filed August 31, 1953, and now Patent No. 2,765,627, issued June 25, 1956. Reference to such application may be made for an understanding of the details of construction and operation of the control mechanism.

In accordance with the present invention, the tip scoop S comprises a receptacle here shown in the form of a bucket or shovel 30, formed as of relatively heavy gauge sheet steel to include a bottom portion 31 with a forward knife edge 32. The shovel is completed by an upstanding rear wall 34, curved to provide opposite sidewalls 35, tapering in height toward the leading knife edge 32. For pivotal mounting of the shovel 30 on the forward ends of the booms 15, 16 each rear corner of the shovel is provided with a welded bracket here formed by sideby-side plates 36 and 37 spread at their aft edges to present spaced ears apertured for removably receiving one of the lugs 19 and a suitable pivot pin 38 locked with a linch pin 39. Preferably, the upper rear portion of the innermost plate 36 has an ear 36a curved around to the rear wall 34 and welded for more rigid attachment. By a the simple and sturdy arrangementdescribed, the shovel 30 is thus adapted to pivot freely about a transverse axis along its rear wall 34 relative to the booms 15, 16. Under the gravitational force of its own weight, therefore, the shovel 30 normally swings to the depending position shown by dashed lines in Fig. 3 to discharge any material which has been previously picked up. 1

In keeping with one'important aspect of the present invention, an extensible actuator is provided for rocking the shovel upwardly about the pivot pins 38 to the substantially horizontal position shown in Fig. 3 by solid lines. The extensible actuatoris adapted not only to rock the shovel 30 to such position, but to maintain it in such position for scooping or transporting any of wide range of materials'without the necessity for latch or latch releasing mechanisms. In the present instance, the extensible actuator is provided in the form of a hydraulic ram or jack 40 pivotally connected between the lifting attachment L and the lower portion of the shovels centrally located between the booms 15, 16 and includes a piston 41 telescoped into a cylinder 42, the former having at its end an aperture-ed ear- 44 pivotally received on a r mo able p n 45 a susd. throu h pared. pertu e lugs 46 secured, as by welding, to the lower plate 22 of the lifting structures interbracing arrangement. The

ylinder 2 is fi ed. t s losed end with. an au it/t d:

us bl ha k .3 h eaded i a he q i o a a ke in. a e ec d e t n b me ts of a 2 9 he hank includes at its extremity an apertured ear dtlwhich is For limiting the downward swing of the shovel 30 tov the substantially vertieal position shown by dashed lines in Fig. 3, the outermost mounting plate 37 carries on its under edge an abutment bloclr 5:5 which is positioned to engage the lug 19: on the corresponding one of the booms 15, 16. This assures that as the extensive force in the ram 40 is relaxed to release any load in the shovel 30 by letting the latter swing downwardly, the pivot connection at 51 does not swing above a line between the pivot connections at 45 and 38. Thus, when extensive force is reapplied by the ram 4% the shovel 30 again swings to the position shown by solid lines. In other words, the stop abutment 55 prevents the ram ill from going over center and then exerting a force which tends to rock. the shovel 39 still further in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3.

In order to energize the ram 46 with pressure fluid or bleed such fluid to extend and contract the ram and effect raising and holding of the shovel in its horizontal position, or for permitting it to drop to the ertical position, the cylinder 42 is connected into the hydraulic system of the tractor by a flexible conduit 56 extending through the hollow boom 16to the control valve 28. While separate control valves for the lifting rams 24, 25 and the actuating ram 40 may be employed, the control valve 23 is preferably part of a control mechanism such as that described inthc aforementioned copending application Serial No. 377,585 of Chambers and Mc- Neice. By such arrangement the control valve, in conjunction with the quadrant lever 27, serves to selectively control both the rams 24, 25 and the ram 49, Thus, manipulation of the levers 29 and 28a permits the driver to supply additional fluid to the ram 46 to raise the shovel 30 to its horizontal position, to trap such fluid in the cylinder 42 for maintaining the shovel in such horizontal position, or for venting the fluid in the ram 40 and thus permitting the shovel to drop to its vertical position under the influence of its own weight and that of any load it is carrying.

'In the use of the tip scoop, the hydraulic cylinder 42 is supplied with pressure fluid to extend and swing the shovel 39 to a substantially horizontal position. The maximum travel or extension of the hydraulic ram 40, together with the setting of the shank 48 limits such swing and determines the angle of the shovel bottom portion 31 in the loading and carrying position. The booms may then be lowered by draining fluid from the lift rams 24, 25 and the tractor driven forward to cause the scoop to bite into and pick up any of a wide range of granular materials, such as gravel, sand, dirt, grain, etc. The lift rams 24, 25 are then supplied with pressure fluid, by manipulating the control valve 28, to raise the booms to the position illustrated in Fig. l. The'tractor may next be driven to any desired delivery point, with fluid trapped in the hydraulic cylinder 49 maintaining the shovel 3!) in its substantially horizontal, load carrying position. At the delivery point the load is dumped simply by setting the valve 28 to release the trapped fluid from the cylinder 42 whereupon the shovel swings under its own weight to the substantially vertical position.

Because the forward ends of the booths 15, 15 may be raised to a relatively great height above and in front of the tractor T, the load may be dumped into a truck bed or other elevated bin, if desired. When the load is dumped, the shovel 3t) is prevented from swinging past its vertical position and thus running the ram over center" by the engagement of the stop abutments with corresponding ones of the lugs 19. Therefore, when pressure fluid is again supplied to the ram 40 its extension will return the shove l 30 to the substantially horizontal position. I

Merely by trapping fluid in the cylinder 4-2 of the ram 40, as described,'provi sion is made for not only swinging the shovel to its scooping and load carrying position but for maintaining it in such position as loaded material is lifted and transported. Should the shovel 30 encounter an obstruction in its forward loading and scooping movemeat, or pick up, a load too, heavy for the shovel or the booms 15, 16 to properly handle, the pressure of the fluid in the ram 40 will tend to be increased. As a result, an overload release valve provided in the tractor:; hydraulic system according to the above mentioned application Serial No. 377,585 may serve to vent the ram 49, permitting the shovel to yield to the dump position and preclude damage either to the tip scoop S or the lifting attachment L. 'In another advantageous aspect, the

shank 48 threaded into the cylinder 42 permits of adjustment in the maximum length of the ram 40 when filled with pressure fluid. By loosening the lock nut 49, setting the shank 48, and retightening the lock nut, the angle of the scoop bottom 31 when in loading or carrying position may be adjusted. That is, the angle of attack of the shovel 30 in picking up of material as the tractor is driven forward may be adjusted to the most advantageous setting forthe particular material being handled and its disposition on the ground or in a truck bed, receptacle, or bin. I

And While the present invention is susceptible of practice by the construction of a tip scoop which is relatively simple in organization, it provides a marked improvement in both as to the initial cost and operating facility over prior tip scoops, especially in that the shovel 30 may be controlled from a valve located near the drivers seat on a tractor and may be held in loading or carrying position without the continued application of power or the use of a latch mechanism simply by trapping fluid in the hydraulic cylinder 42 as described.

We claim:

1. For use with a tractor having a hydraulic system and equipped with a forwardly extending lifting attachment adapted to be rocked vertically by hydraulic actuators energized from'the hydraulic system, a tip scoop comprising, in combination, a scoop shovel having a bottom, a rear wall upstanding from the bottom, and upstanding side walls, means including a bracket secured near the lower rear corner on each of said side walls for connecting said shovel to the said lifting attachment for pivoting about a transverse axis, a hydraulic ram pivotally connected directly between said lifting attachment and the edge of said rear wall which is lowermost when the shovel bottom is substantially horizontal, means connecting said ram to the tractors hydraulic system including a control valve for selectively supplying pressure fluid to extend said ram for rocking the shovel to a load ing and carrying position, trapping fluid in said ram for maintaining the shovel in such position, or venting the ram to permitthe shovel to swing to a dumping position.

2. The combination with a lifting structure of a tip scoop comprising a shovel having a bottom with a front scooping edge and a rear wall upstanding from the bottom, pivot means supporting the shovel from the lifting structure for'swinginghbout a liorizontalaxis between positions in which the bottom of the shovel is substantially horizontally or vertically disposed, and an extensible hydraulic jack having a fi rst end pivotally carried on the lit g structure and a second end pivotally connected dii ectly to the rear wall of theshovel at a point below the axis of the pivot means supporting the shovel when the bottom of the latter is substantially horizontally disposed, said jack having a shank on one end which is adjustable in length to vary the position of the scoop when the jack is fully extended, and an abutment on said shovel adapted to engage the lifting structure to prevent the jack-shovel pivot connection from becoming coincident with a line running between the jack-lifting structure pivot and the shovel-lifting structure pivot, whereby an extensive force by said jack swings the shovel to a position with its bottom substantially horizontally disposed and the release of said extensive force gravitationally swings the scoop to a position with its bottom substantially vertically disposed.

3. The combination with a vertically movable lifting structure of a tip scoop comprising a shovel having a bottom wall and a rear wall upstanding from the bottom wall, means pivotally mounting the shovel at its rear wall on the lifting structure for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, an axially extensible hydraulic ram pivotally secured at one end to the lifting structure and at the other end directly to the rear wall of the shovel at a point vertically displaced from its horizontal pivot axis, and cooperating stop means on the shovel and the lifting structure for preventing the pivot between the scoop and the ram from becoming vertically coincident with a line extending between the respective pivots of the ram and shovel to the lifting structure as said ram is contracted. 

